The Black Sheep
by pigeonz444
Summary: Oneshot- One of a possible series of oneshots about The Next generation


p class="MsoNormal"For all Roxanne jokes about being the 'black sheep' of the family (having inherited her mother's dark skin and ebony hair), they all know it's Rose. It would be impossible to give her a label, because she has none. She is simply Rose. Rose wakes with the sunset and runs for two hours before stuffing her face with treacle tart. She lies on the musty floor of the treehouse Ron built for her when Hugo was born (which is Rose's sacred place and a forbidden temple to anyone else) and allows muggle music to resonate through her soul. Rose has been known to go days without saying a word, and yet is equally likely to debate the ethics of house elves with her mother so loudly that the neighbours feel the need to check that everything is ok. Rose is an anomaly and a paradox and an oxymoron. She is an unsolved puzzle, and at the age of eleven, the entire Weasley family gives up. They quietly consult each other, and make the decision. Rose will never be understood, and they should stop trying. But then? Then, Rose goes to Hogwarts./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Albus lets everyone assume that Scorpius is his best friend, and yeah, maybe they are friends, but he isn't Scorpius' best friend. That role belongs to Rose and no one else. No introductions are necessary, because as soon as Scorpius' orbs of silver meet Rose's Mediterranean oceans, an understanding is met. Rose wordlessly holds out an ear bud, and Scorpius takes it, and they spend the train ride next to each other, reading from two annotated copies of the same muggle fantasy novel. Albus takes the seat opposite and gazes out of the window; he had never expected that he would be glad to get off of that train, but hours of nothing but the quiet of a page being turned in a book is stifling for a boy raised by hollers from the kitchen and family wide shouting matches from across the kitchen table (which is just the way Albus likes it)./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He chooses a boat with a girl named Merry Sherllop (who has the most brilliant purple hair), a set of raven haired twins named Arabella and Callista, and a cheerful boy named Wilbur Huxley. Arabella and Callista mutter to each other and pointedly ignore the other occupants of the boat, but Merry is decidedly the coolest girl Albus has ever met, and Wilbur ("Call me Will or Hux, but if you call me em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Wilbur/em, I'll find out how to hex your pants off and do it") is so bubbly and bright that Albus feels right at home. Merry calls Wilbur 'Hex' as a joke, but it fits so well that all of them are in such hysterics that they almost miss the first look at Hogwarts. Albus chances a glance over to the boat where Rose and Scorpius are sat, and isn't surprised to find that they are chatting away to each other, oblivious to the odd looks their newfound friendship has created./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Rose and Scorpius are both sorted into Ravenclaw, whilst Albus is a Gryffindor (he's surprised and delighted that the sorting hat doesn't even think to mention Slytherin, although Ravenclaw was a definite consideration). Lorcan and Lysander are sorted into Hufflepuff, but Merry and Hex are Gryffindor like him, and they wave madly at him from where they are sandwiched in between his cousins (as if he could have missed Merry's hair). He considers writing to Uncle Ron and warning the war hero about his daughter's new friendship, but then he sees the look on James' face, and figures Ron will find out anyway. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"He /emdoesn't need to get involved./p  
p class="MsoNormal"James has never been so confused, and he's best friends with Fred- his fellow red-head has the most brilliant temper, and a terrible habit of yelling before explaining why he's actually mad. The boy sat next to Rose in the library has the pale blonde hair and grey eyes which define him as a Malfoy, and yet he's here, in the library, red in the face and grinning at something Rose has muttered. James is well educated in facial expressions so he em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"knows /emthat Scor-Malfoy isn't smirking, but he's just not so sure he believes it. He's about to approach the unlikely duo when he hears a sound he had come to believe was impossible- Rose laughing. The red-head laughs like a true Weasley; she throws her head back and guffaws with her whole body, her face lighting up. It's the most magical thing that James has ever witnessed, and he goes to a school to em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"learn/em magic. Instead of approaching them, James stuffs his belongings into his bag and hares off to the owlery with a scribbled note addressed to his parents, reading:/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Mum, Dad,/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Rose laughed. This is /emspan style="text-decoration: underline;"not/span em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"a joke./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"James/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Mum writes back insisting that James explain further, so he finds Albus and wheedles the whole story out of his scrawny little brother (which actually isn't that hard if you know where to tickle). Together they sit down and compose a proper explanation, which is addressed to every family member not in Hogwarts./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Dear family,/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"The reason for Rose's laughter is one Scorpius Malfoy. Apparently they connected on the train over a love of muggle books and music, and have been inseparable ever since. Both are Ravenclaws and have so far spent every free moment in the library or taking long walks around the lake together. Albus insists that neither actually felt the need to speak during the aforementioned train ride, and instead they listened to Rose's sacred music together, and read from two copies of the same book. Al has also done some further research into sthe Malfoy git/s Scorpius, and apparently 'Scorp' is very witty and charismatic (and also very bad at smirking). We've been doing some thinking, and we reckon that if Scorpius can make Rosie laugh and smile, and persuade her to talk in full sentences to someone who isn't family or a close friend (this being Albus' new scrush/s friend, Merry Sherllop), then he's probably an all-round good guy. Don't worry though- we'll keep an eye out for the git, and keep you old schoolers posted, yeah? Say hi to Lils for me, will you?/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"James (and Albus, who didn't really help, but insisted on adding his name anyway)/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Out of all of the 'old-schoolers', it is discovered that Teddy is the only one who really knows Scorpius Malfoy. He vaguely remembers babysitting the cheerful little boy on several occasions, and has only good things to say about the kid. Scorpius, Teddy recalls, could always be found smiling, even when other kids teased him about his terrible stutter. The blue-haired boy had never gotten the impression that Scorpius' home life was especially pleasant, and although he was certain that Scorpius' dad did love him, Draco had struggled to cope with the death of his wife when Scorpius was two. There had been several occasions where Draco had broken down in grief, stuffed some clothes and toys into a bag, and parked Scorpius on the doorstep of some distant and unfamiliar relative. It was a combination of Scorpius' naturally shy nature, and the general cruelty of a bitter and unforgiving society which had had to Scorpius' stutter, but according to subsequent letters from Al and James, said stutter seemed non-existent now (except for when Rose wasn't around, which was rare)./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Later, Ginny would admit to having babysat a very small Scorpius Malfoy (along with Rosie) on more than one occasion. Apparently, the late Astoria Malfoy had suffered from PTSD as a result of the war, leaving her frequently incapable of caring for a young baby alone. Ginny, having known, and been tentative friends with, Astoria from school was glad to take the small blonde haired boy. She would privately admit to Harry that the first word Rosie had ever spoken was not 'Hogwarts', as she had told Hermione and Ron later, but 'Scorpius', and that she had anticipated a steadfast and unbreakable friendship (and perhaps even more) even in those early years of nappies and naptimes./p  
p class="MsoNormal"She was the only one who wasn't surprised when Scorpius and Rose announced their engagement as they departed the Hogwarts express for the final time./p 


End file.
